


Human Tails

by calibratingentropy



Series: Tail Tales [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alien Biology, Alien Gender/Sexuality, Alternate Universe, Body Dysphoria, Bullying, Galra Hunk (Voltron), Gen, Hunk (Voltron)-centric, Hunk Has Three Parents, Hunk and Keith Are Sort of Brothers, Keith & Shiro (Voltron) are Adoptive Siblings, Keith has Three Parents, Poor Body-Image, Quad-sexed Ovoviviparous Marsupial Galra, Scents & Smells, Self-Esteem Issues, Tactile Hunk, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-26
Updated: 2018-05-26
Packaged: 2019-05-13 22:13:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,465
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14757260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/calibratingentropy/pseuds/calibratingentropy
Summary: Hunk had always known he was different, if only because he'd had a tail as long as he can remember and three people who were his mom. But now everyone else has discovered how different Hunk is, as Hunk gets to reunite with his alien mom and find out a few surprising things about himself in the process.Or: Unrepentant fluff revolving around the idea of Hunk also being part Galra and discovering his heritage.





	Human Tails

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to another addition to the "Quad-sexed Ovoviviparous Marsupial Galra" AU cluster. A commenter on one of my other fics wondered what would happen if a Galra tried to pouch-mother a human baby, so here it is. 
> 
> Tinā is, as far as my limited resources can pinpoint, mother in Samoan, and aside from a tail, Hunk has a few Galra traits that do freak him out at various points.

So the Galra rebel leader dude was kneeling in front of Allura. That was unexpecte— That tail. Hunk edged closer to the other one, who he was pretty sure was huge, even for a Galra. His own tail curled on itself while Hunk watched the Galra’s tail sway almost hypnotically during the introductions. It was hard to tell with it covered in space spandex but Hunk thought that the forked part might be a bony spine. Hunk’s tail had a spine. It was, like, half an inch long so it didn’t even show under the space spandex of Hunk’s own armor but… 

Hunk had never seen a Galra with a tail before. But it was his turn, and Hunk realized he was staring at the Galra’s tail. He blushed and coughed to clear his throat. “Uh. Hunk. Hunk Garret. Nice to meet you.” 

The tail Galra stiffened abruptly, and come to think of it, why could Hunk only smell the leader Galra? Hunk’s nose was probably his most reliable sense, but it had been failing him with these Galra. He hadn’t been able to smell the leader guy at first either. It was a mystery!

Hunk was pretty sure that tail Galra was staring at him while the rest were making their introductions but it was hard to tell with the mask. But now the leader Galra (his name was apparently Kolivan) was introducing tail Galra. “This is my second in command, Antok.” 

_That name!_ It was impossible. It must be a coincidence. But Hunk couldn’t help the surge of hope. Ever since Mom had broken down and told Hunk that he had a third mom who was an alien, Hunk had wanted to meet his alien mom. This Antok looked like a big, burly guy though, but then again, Mom had never called his alien mom a she either. And ever since he’d gotten to space, he’d checked every new species for the right kind of tail, because knowing the species would give him a place to start looking. Hunk had to know!

“Mama…? _Rava?_ ” The alien word stuck in his throat, but Hunk though he’d gotten it right. He barely remembered his alien mom (in fact, he mostly just remembered Rava’s scent and warmth) but watching the old messages Mom had recorded with tiny baby Hunk for his alien mom had reminded Hunk of the word. Now that he had a super convenient universal translator it gave him the meaning of the word as “Mama” which, not a surprise, but good to know.

He wouldn’t have thought it was possible for this Antok to stiffen more, but he somehow did. And so did Kolivan. Antok looked at his leader, and only haver a small, curt nod did he lift his hands to the hood and mask, revealing a face with scaly deep blue-purple skin and thick plates on top. With it off _now_ Hunk could smell— That scent. It was his Rava, it _was_! And Keith made an abrupt, broken noise in his throat. Hunk wouldn’t have picked it up if his hearing wasn’t better than normal peoples’ but that little gasped “Mama,” _what_? 

Antok’s voice was a deep baritone without the mask distorting it. “Hunk, Keith. I never thought I would see either of you again. Vrulidok.” 

Okay. _What_. Hunk had already thought that, but whatever. That last word had translated as ‘my precious joeys’ after a bit of fumbling and did that mean Keith was Hunk’s _brother_? Half-brother? However brothers worked when there were three parents involved. But most importantly— “Rava! I found you.” 

It was hug time, and not even Zarkon himself could stop Hunk. He didn’t even care that he was definitely crying a little. He’d found his alien mom. (He could freak out about his alien mom being Galra later.) Hunk even got his tail into the action, and an answering tail curled around him, along with a strong pair of arms. Even now that Hunk was an adult and done growing (pretty sure, at least) Rava was huge and warm and safe. “I’ve wanted to meet you forever! Mom said you’d be coming back someday, but I got dragged into space and what if you’d come back and couldn’t find me because I was out here and—“ 

A warbling sound that sounded kind of like a staticky recording of a pigeon, came from right in front of his face, and something in Hunk’s brain just chilled. Just like that, instant calm and reassurance. He felt one of Rava’s hands lift from his back and then heard a _hiss_ from Keith. When he looked, Keith had his teeth bared in a snarl, and shoulders hunched. Hunk swore Keith’s hair was puffed up like an angry cat. In fact, so much of Keith right now was basically angry cat pasted onto a human-shaped base. Keith took a deep breath and bit out the words like he was trying to dig his teeth into them. 

“Why didn’t you _say_ anything? You were right there; you took my knife from me! If you knew, why didn’t you _say_?” 

The warbling just _stopped_. Antok was completely silent and still, not even breathing for a second. It made Hunk feel very uncomfortable. “There are two reasons. The first is that without scent, and the shape of your brood-mother’s blade, I couldn’t be sure you were mine. The second is that leader made the decision that this information shouldn’t be revealed at this time of threat to our very organization, unless you made the connection yourself, like Hunk just did.” 

Keith hissed again, but his shoulders came down a little. “What do you mean by brood-mother?” 

“Brood-mothers incubate their eggs internally until the joeys hatch, and pouch-mothers nurse and care for the joeys until they’re weened and ready to begin fending for themselves. I’m your pouch-mother.” Antok was speaking, but Hunk was becoming more aware of unease and restlessness from the others. It wouldn’t be long before somebody else started interrupting, and he knew there’d be questions. So many questions. 

Hunk had some too, but his could wait. He’d already known that three parents was a thing for his alien mom’s species, and he could hear that the actual word for pouch-mother was to Rava like mother was to Mama. Keith was not so content to wait. “Who is she? Who’s knife do I have? Why did she— you both leave?” 

“Your blade,” Kolivan said, with a tinge of admonishment, “and this is why I cautioned against revealing this information. Now you’ll be distracted, and distracted soldiers make deadly mistakes.” 

“Who is she? Where is she? I got past your trials, and you said that if I wanted to know I had to do them. But now you’re holding back! Tell me!” Keith was nearly spitting in anger, but more than that, he smelled desperate and alone. 

There was a solution to that, but Hunk didn’t know if Keith would take it. He was gonna try anyway. So Hunk ducked out of the circle of Antok’s arms, feeling reluctant, and then went and pulled Keith into a hug. Keith bared teeth at him, but Hunk just rolled his eyes at the gesture. Not like Keith meant it. …Probably. After a couple long seconds Keith relaxed just a little bit, and Hunk was gonna call that a win. “I get it! You’re mad. I’m mad too, because if I hadn’t put two and two together and got mom, I _wouldn’t_ know either. And what if the next battle kills somebody? Withholding this kind of information is pretty cruel if you ask me.” 

Kolivan’s frown deepened, and his scent was a complicated tangle of emotions. Worry stood out the most. “Keith’s brood-mother is an undercover agent inside the fleet. Telling you anything more risks her cover and her mission.” 

“What? Why— I wouldn’t go running off to find her; I’m not stupid! I just want to know!” 

“Wouldn’t you?” Kolivan asked softy. “Your reckless and singleminded pursuit of her identity in the trials almost led to your failure. You finally passed because you were willing to give that up for the greater good, but now that additional knowledge has been revealed, you’ve returned to that behavior. So how can I trust that you won’t?” 

Keith went silent, sullen, and hunched in on himself. Hunk didn’t know what else to do, so he just hugged Keith tighter. “But, like, you’ll tell us after? Once things have calmed down a bit after Zarkon’s dead.”

After a beat of silence, Kolivan nodded very deliberately. Keith didn’t like the answer, but went resigned. He was gonna accept it, as unfair as it was. 

Hunk was considering the pros and cons of dragging Keith over for family hug time (Keith was his brother; that was so weird.) but Shiro cleared his throat loudly. “Why don’t we go to the lounge? I’m sure everybody has lots of questions and catching up to do.” 

He cast a side-eye look at fidgeting Lance, who tried and failed to put on an innocent look. Pidge was looking them over with open curiosity but thankfully no unease, while Shiro and Lance mostly just looked and smelled confused. Shiro was also a little happy and a little mad at the same time, and Hunk could guess that it might be on Keith’s behalf. 

Allura, on the other hand, smelled like Shiro before he went into a flashback, all tension and fear feeding into anger feeding into hyperawareness and just generally screaming “I don’t feel safe” with her scent. For the umpteenth time, Hunk wished that somebody on board was a qualified therapist, because they were wracking up the issues at a record rate. Her expression and tone were polite, even pleasant, but since Hunk’s senses came from his alien mom, Hunk bet that the Galra could smell right through her poker face. Maybe even Keith could too. 

Coran, as always, was the hardest to read. Hunk had no idea how he did it, but Coran almost always smelled of excitement and joy, over all the other scents he smelled like. Hunk couldn’t make sense of it half the time, except Coran was a nice scent to be around. 

Shiro was leading them out now, and Hunk followed. Questions and catching up, huh? This could take a while. Maybe Hunk should nip off to the kitchen and make something. Heavy talks always went better with food. But Lance had fallen in step beside him, and Hunk loved Lance, but Lance was terrible at whispering. 

“Dude, I thought we were friends; why didn’t you tell me?” 

Of course Lance couldn’t just let it be until they got somewhere to sit. “Would you have believed me and not let the secret slip? Human tails are weird enough as it is, and I was kind of really nervous about the wrong people finding out I was part alien.” 

Lance froze and smelled a little guilty. “Okay, so _maybe_ that’s fair. But Hunk, don’t hold out on me! How does it even work? I thought your moms did that in vitro deal to have you. How long have you known you were part alien? What’s it like? Anything else besides the tail?” 

Why. But Hunk just sighed. “What do you want, my whole life story?” 

“Sure, why not?” Lance, no.

They were at the lounge by now anyway, so Hunk flopped down on the couch, unable to hide his smile and the little burst of happiness when Antok sat next to him. Keith was hovering on the edge of the room, because of course he was. Hunk wasn’t going to stand for it (sit for it, whatever) so he got back up, grabbed Keith’s wrist and tugged him back towards the couch. Keith bared his teeth again and went kind of dead weight against the pull, but didn’t protest other than that. And trickling into his scent was something soft and fragile. Hope? 

And there was no other good excuse. Story time, Hunk guessed. Where did he even start? “I’m not great at telling stories, much less my own. And to answer your first question, Lance, I have no idea how alien, or Galra I guess, genetics even work. My sister was in vitro, yeah. My moms had her by combining the DNA and stuff from two of their eggs, but they wanted a boy too. My Mom had carried my sister, and my Tinā wanted to carry me. But they couldn’t naturally have a boy, so they asked Mom’s little brother if he’d donate sperm, to be combined with Tinā’s egg, and here I am!”

“But after that, my moms packed up and moved us from Hawaii to start working for the Garrison. But mostly because I had some serious congenital stuff going on, and there was a really good pediatric specialist who was working on some experimental treatments. They didn’t get me into the trials though, but stayed because the Garrison paid really well, and I was gonna need surgeries on my spine. Expensive ones, and at least one was gonna have to happen in utero. But that doctor was a couple hours away, across the desert, and Mom had work that day. So Tinā was taking me to my pre-op checkup alone. And on the way home, a drunk ran a stop sign and crashed into Tinā’s car. Tinā’s phone was crushed, and she was hurt really bad, and it was a deserted road.” 

And even if he’d never actually met his Tinā, thinking about her made Hunk tear up a bit. He sniffled and wiped a tear away. Antok’s hand settled on his shoulder, giving him a brief squeeze. And Hunk felt better!

“Mom told me that Tinā used her purse strap as a tourniquet on her leg, but that it wasn’t enough. Nobody would even have been worried for at least another hour, and she didn’t have that long. So, uh, she always carried a pearl-handled knife she got from my great grandfather. Just in case, you know? So she cut me out of her all by herself and saved my life. But I wasn’t there when the police finally found her; they thought coyotes had got me. And then a day later Mom got the strangest phone call. Some guy she didn’t even know was calling and claiming he knew what had happened to me.” 

Antok made a little sound that was almost a laugh. “Kyle wasn’t very persuasive.” 

It made Hunk smile, but Keith stiffened. It wasn’t hard to guess that Kyle must have been Keith’s dad. Anyway, Hunk actually felt like he was on a roll. “Mom hung up on him like four times, thinking it was a prank call after the story had appeared on the news. She even told him so, but he told her to check the news stories, and they all said I was dead, not missing and presumed dead. So she finally agreed to meet the caller, and there I was safe and sound and nursing from an alien. I should have been in the hospital because it was way before I should have been born, and I had really bad spina bifida and scoliosis but I guess they had a vet helping them, so I had oxygen and stuff. And I was healing because of nursing and some alien medical gel, so Mom didn’t argue with me getting a third mom.” 

There was a moment of silence while Hunk thought about what else he could say, but then Pidge spoke up. “But if both of your moms were human, how did you end up with a tail? There are diseases that can be passed through breastfeeding but I don’t think DNA can do that. And a vet, which vet?” 

Kolivan was the one that spoke up in answer. “Galra children get DNA from three sources, including from their pouch mother’s milk. First milk is packed with cells that transfer DNA over and build the immune system. Especially when combined with certain medical treatments, genetic and physical issues can be corrected. I know that Antok took some of those treatments because hybrids can have medical issues because of the source DNA from the parents expressing unevenly.”

“Her name was Colleen Holt,” Antok supplied, “she was very strong, and I’ll be forever grateful for her aid.” 

Pidge gasped and went completely still. “Mom knew? Mom knew about aliens all this ti—oh. So that’s why…” She stopped talking abruptly and sniffled. 

“So you’ve always known you were an alien?” Lance asked. 

“No, not always, but the evidence was always there so it wasn’t like I was really surprised when Mom finally told me the basics. She was gonna tell me everything when I graduated from the Garrison, but then the Lions happened.” Hunk shrugged. “When we get to go home, I guess I’ll finally get to see the rest of the stuff in the promise box.” 

Man, Hunk was missing home and Mom so much right now. Any more and he’d end up breaking down into tears. But Lance, bless him, was excited, peppering them all with questions. At least that was one worry taken care of. But Hunk didn’t know how he was going to answer all of those questions so he held his hands up. “Give me a minute to answer before asking more questions, geeze. And there were a lot of things, but the first time it really hit me was…” 

Wow, way to take him back. Hunk hadn’t thought about it in years.

* * *

Hunk didn’t wanna go to Kindergarten. Hiding his tail under his shirt was stupid and not comfy and he didn’t wanna be away from Mommy. But she was trying to pry his hands away from her pants and—and!

Crying wasn’t a thing that big boys did, but Hunk was too upset to care. “I don’t wanna go!” 

“Don’t you want to learn all kinds of fun things? Just yesterday you were so excited.” Mommy pulled him into a hug before going back to prying him off. 

“But you can teach me all the fun things, Mommy!” Hunk just wanted to stay at home with her, or maybe Abby. Abby was a nice babysitter, and didn’t try to take pictures of Hunk’s tail to show other people (it was a pinky swear secret, and even if Hunk didn’t understand why it had to be, pinky swear secrets were _sacred_ ) like the last babysitter did. 

“Mommy has to work, dear.” But! Mommy shushed him before he could say anything. “And I know you’d like to come to work with me, but you’re not quite big enough yet.” 

Hunk just wailed. Mommy picked him up and hugged him tight, and Mommy smelled like safety and home, and everything good. “How about this? We can get one of your mama’s scent disks to put in Mr. Taddy-bear’s stomach, and that way your mama can watch over you while you’re at school today.” 

Hunk didn’t remember Ra—Mama, Hunk had to remember to use English in front of other people— very well, but Mama had left soft disks with Mama’s special scent that was different from everyone else for Hunk, and made Mr. Taddy-bear pinky swear (paw-swear) to keep Hunk safe until Mama could come back home. Hunk hoped Mama could come home soon. Other kids had moms and dads that were soldiers and they got to come home every few months, but Mama had been away for a long, long time. The scent disks were almost gone. 

But Mr. Taddy-bear just smelled like cotton and Hunk right now, and the promise of smelling like Mama again was big enough. Hunk sniffled. “Fine. We’ll go to Kindergarten.” 

So Mommy pulled out the promise box that had to take her handprint and a special code to even open, and got one of the scent disks. With great seriousness, Mommy opened up Mr. Taddy-bear and exchanged the old disk for the new one, and Hunk held the stuffed toy close, breathing in Mama’s scent, all the way to school. 

The teacher, Miss Alderman, tried to make Hunk put Mr. Taddy-bear away and didn’t listen when Hunk said he _needed_ Mr. Taddy-bear because Mr. Taddy-bear took care of him when Mama was far away. She only relented when Hunk burst into tears. Lessons were kind of fun, even if Hunk knew most of the things already, and could write his own name and everything, and lunch (the hotdogs smelled wrong, so Hunk was glad Mommy had packed him a sandwich) and then more lessons went okay. But then they were sent outside for recess, and one of the bigger boys started saying things. 

Hunk ignored him at first, and concentrated on making a fort in the sandbox with Mr. Taddy-bear and one of the girls (her name was Alice; she was nice), but then a crowd started gathering, and somebody kicked sand all over Hunk and Mr. Taddy-bear, ruining the fort. Hunk bit his lip, trying not to cry. Mommy would tell him to be brave. Mama was a soldier and protecting everybody and Hunk wanted to be like Mama someday. 

They said “mama’s boy” like it was a bad thing, and Hunk stuck his tongue out at them, because Mama was better than all of them. “My Mama is a soldier and fighting to protect all of us, so there! I love my Mommy and Mama.” 

“You’re lying!”

“Am not!”

“Are too!” 

Then somebody grabbed Mr. Taddy-bear and started pulling. Hunk yelped and pulled back, but the boy who’d grabbed the bear was bigger and stronger, and Hunk couldn’t lose Mr. Taddy-bear! So he let his tail come out to hold on better with it too. 

That’s when the yelling started. 

Later, Mommy came to have a meeting with Hunk and Miss Alderman and Hunk found out why his tail was a pinky sear secret. Normal people didn’t have tails, and doctors cut them off if babies did, because they were something called a birth-defect. But Hunk’s tail was special just like Hunk was special, because he could move it just like he could move his hands, and Mommy had decided he should be able to keep it. 

When the other kids started teasing him about his tail and having two moms, and having a mom who was a solider the next day, Hunk didn’t feel special at all. Why wasn’t he normal?

* * *

Eventually, Hunk had learned to accept his tail, and that it needed to be hidden, but there was always that lingering sense of difference setting him apart from other kids. He learned that being so gassy, and prone to stomach-aches wasn’t normal either, but he wasn’t going to give up all the tasty foods (bread and pasta, and zucchini and tomatoes and chocolate and rice and…) that made him that way either. 

But it was okay, and Mom loved him, and someday Mama was going to come back from the war (even if Hunk couldn’t get Mom to tell him which one), and they were all Hunk really needed. He did great in school, and loved to build things and take them apart and put them back together again, and even had a couple friends. Lance and his family had just moved (immigrated) from Cuba, and Hunk already knew Lance would be a great friend. He didn’t speak English perfectly yet, and the other kids picked on him a little, but Hunk didn’t care about that. And Lance didn’t care about Hunk’s gas or the other kids calling him monkey-boy (the few that remembered never made Hunk prove that he really did have a tail and everybody else just called him that because it was the thing to call him). They were going to be a great team forever, Hunk was sure of it. 

And today? Today was gonna be _great_ because they were going on a field trip to learn about police dogs and other things, but mostly dogs. Hunk loved dogs; they were so friendly and they never judged him like people sometimes did. Right now one of the police officers was explaining how dogs used their noses to find things by smell, and one of the dogs was going to do a demonstration. Right now a plastic bag with a white cloth inside it was being passed around for everybody to sniff. The other kids and even Lance didn’t smell anything (at least while the bag was closed; the boy who opened it said it was pot) but Hunk didn’t even have to sniff. It was a sharp herby smell, and it made him sneeze twice just by breathing in. Hunk rubbed his nose and handed the bag back to the officer. “I don’t like it. It smells weird and makes my nose itch.” 

The officer just raised an eyebrow at Hunk and gestured to a line of duffle bags, and asked them to guess which had a cloth with the same scent sewn into the lining. All the others just pointed at bags with no rhyme or reason, which was dumb. The pot, since that’s what it was supposed to smell like, had a really strong smell. So he raised his hand. “Just guessing is silly. Can’t we try to smell it?” 

The officer raised his eyebrow further. “Sure. Knock yourself out, but no touching.” 

So Hunk walked over to the duffle bags and crouched next to the leftmost one. He could already tell it was one of the left two or the middle one. A couple sniffs told him that there was some of the pot smell in the end one, but it was kind of faint. So probably not in that one right now. Scents lingered for a while after something smelly was taken out. So that left two, and Hunk went to the middle one next. Process of elimination! But he barely got a sniff in before the smell hit him strong enough to make his nose burn and he sneezed. Well that was pretty easy. 

Hunk pointed. “That one, but the one on the end had the scent target in it a while ago. Maybe a week?” 

The officer stared at him with jaw hanging open for a full thirty seconds, then snapped it shut. He said nothing, but the dog alerted at the bag Hunk had pointed to, even after stopping at the end bag for longer than the others. The officer crossed his arms over his chest while the other kids and Lance stared at Hunk, wide-eyed. “Lucky guess, kid.” 

“But it wasn’t a guess,” Hunk protested, and then winced when someone pointed out that humans couldn’t smell like dogs could. Was this another weird thing Hunk needed to hide? Darn. “My Mom says I’ve got hypersensitivity.” 

The officer just scowled, and turned away. He was clearly trying to be quiet but Hunk heard him muttering about somebody else having told Hunk to cheat to make the officer look bad. 

Hunk wasn’t a cheat! “Nobody told me anything! And nobody wants to make you look bad, sir.” 

There, he was even respectful. But now everyone was staring at him again and maybe he shouldn’t have spoken up at all. Hunk just ducked his head and barely paid attention to the rest of the field trip. 

Lance stuck close to him, and as they slid into their seats, he whispered (loudly because everything Lance did was loud and bright), “Are you a werewolf?” 

When Hunk just stared at him Lance started waving his hands around. “Because, you have a super nose, and hear things nobody else can, and—“ 

“I’m not a werewolf. Dogs are nice though.” And maybe it would be cool to turn into a wolf, but in the stories werewolves were always mean. Maybe a weredog… 

One of the boys that had been in his class since kindergarten leaned over the seat in front of him and waved around his tablet. Hunk could hear the tinny sounds even through the headphones in the boy’s ears. There was some cartoon playing, and a boy on it was standing on a cloud and had a tail. “Hey monkey-boy, is this your cousin or something? Are you gonna turn into a giant monkey and stomp people?” 

Hunk’s tail didn’t look like that. It didn’t have much hair at all, so it was mostly just naked skin, like a rat’s. And it was a cartoon besides. “Cartoons aren’t real, Jimmy.” 

“Everybody knows that that’s how they hide the conspiracy! I bet you’re an alien invader, just like the Saiyans! Hey everybody, monkey boy’s an alien! Monkey boy’s an alien!” 

The whole bus started taking up the chant and Hunk breathed through his mouth, feeling hot tears prick at his eyes. Why did he have to be born so different? What did he do to deserve it? 

At least Lance was there, holding his hand and smiling. He leaned in, grinning. “Joke’s on them. If you’re an alien, that’d be the coolest thing _ever!_ ”

* * *

Finally, Hunk got to get into advanced placement classes and then skip an entire grade. And with his help studying, Lance got to go with him. Lance was really smart on his own, but he wasn’t as fast at figuring things out sometimes, so he didn’t _think_ he was all that smart.

Finally, he got to get away from the teasing about being a monkey and an alien, and go to school with people who didn’t know anything weird about him. He was still gassy whenever he ate things he shouldn’t, but Hunk had learned to be more careful about when he ate things so he could usually control that. 

But no matter how careful he was, he was _big_. Eating carefully didn’t do it. Exercising didn’t do it (but Hunk was stronger than just about anyone else in class), and it always made him dread this day. Physicals day. 

Lance was skinny, no matter what he ate, and girls were starting to notice Lance. And Lance was his best friend, but sometimes Hunk wished Lance looked a little less perfect. Lance did great with the running, and the sit ups and maybe a little less okay with push ups and pull ups, but still good. And his weight was good, and his eyes were good, and he’d gotten taller all of the sudden. 

Meanwhile, Hunk barely passed the running, failed the sit-ups miserably because his belly made it hard, and while he did great at the push ups and pull ups, the teacher was giving him pitying looks when he stepped on the scale. Hunk had always been really tall, although now that everybody else was growing fast, it wasn’t as big a gap, but he’d always been big too, and he got handed yet another pamphlet about controlling his weight. 

It was terrible, and even passing his vision test with flying colors (Hunk didn’t dare tell anybody he could see better in the dark than anybody else could) didn’t help his mood.

Lance cared, he did, but Lance just didn’t understand. Being told that he was a great big teddy-bear and good for giving hugs just made Hunk… mad. He didn’t mean to snap, and immediately felt bad about it, but Lance wore a hang-dog expression around him for the rest of the day. 

Why did Hunk ruin everything completely by accident?

* * *

Hunk had boobs. He had muscles, but they were hidden under the chub he’d carried since forever, and so it looked like boobs. But the worst part were that his nipples were big and not the little pebbles boys had. He’d snuck a girly magazine with Lance once, and… he had actual boobs. There was no way around it. 

And he was supposed to be changing to go out swimming for gym class but he saw boobs, and he’d never hear the end of it. He was so fat he had boobs, and his skin sagged around his stomach, and he’d barely grown at all in over a year when all the other boys were growing so fast. All Hunk got was more hair, spreading out over his chest and down his back _thick_ and finally covering his tail so it wasn’t a naked rat tail anymore. That part was cool, but it wasn’t like Hunk could show anybody. 

And his stomach burned and itched and made Hunk want to claw his own skin off. Growling in frustration, Hunk grabbed a fistful of his belly fat and tried to push it up against the rest of his stomach. It moved and stretched, all loose and weird and then there was a sharp pain. 

And blood. Not a lot, and in fact it was mostly clear, but that didn’t make it any better. Hunk had literally torn part of his stomach away from itself. Oh god. Oh god. Oh _god_. 

Hunk was only vaguely aware of the teacher coming in over his own panicked screaming, and dully let himself be wrapped in his gym towel and led somewhere quiet. Nothing else mattered until he could smell Mom, frantic and worried, and she hugged him. 

“What’s wrong? Hunk, darling, please tell me.” 

Hunk didn’t know what to say, so he just pulled the loose skin away, shuddering at the sight. She went grim instantly and hugged him harder. “Let’s get you dressed and head home. I think it’s time I told you part of what’s in the promise box.” 

Hunk remembered the promise box, and his Mama that had gone away for war and never come home. Mom could never answer his questions about Mama, and Hunk wasn’t oblivious, he noticed how she evaded answering most of them, but would talk so often about his Tinā, who’d carried him and died in a car crash to save him. 

He didn’t know what to think, if it took Hunk breaking down screaming in order to make Mom finally talk more about his long absent Mama. A spike of resentment hit him, and he sat too quiet and sullen the whole trip home. Mom hadn’t opened the promise box in years, and now that he was almost graduated, and knew so much more about science and technology, Hunk could see that the security on the promise box blew away most security systems. He kind of wanted to take it apart, but Mom just took out a thumb drive and something small and round. There were two thumb drives in the box, along with a couple devices Hunk couldn’t place and what looked like a spandex suit. A spandex suit with an obvious sleeve for a tail. 

Mom shut it before Hunk could reach for it, expression sad. “I promised your Rava that I wouldn’t tell you everything until you were definitely an adult, but I think you need to know part of it.” 

Rava sounded familiar, but for the life of him, Hunk couldn’t place it. Then Mom pulled something off the disk and put it in his hands and Hunk could _smell_ — Familiar. Safety, warmth, so big and strong and— Hunk couldn’t come up with a picture, but he knew without asking that the smell was his Mama, and he could remember holding his arms out and saying ‘Rava, Rava’ and being picked up and a deep, rumbling warbling noise that spoke of safety just like the smell did. 

“That’s the last one,” Mom said, “and it probably won’t last very long. I wanted to save it until you were older, because… Because we haven’t gotten a message from your Rava in years. It could be that the relay went down, but… That’s not the only reason the messages could stop.” 

“Mama… Rava really was a soldier?” There were so many questions (Hunk couldn’t ask ‘is Rava dead?’), but that was the one that popped out first. 

Mom smiled and kissed his forehead. “Yes. Your Rava’s name is Antok, and it’s more of a rebellion than a war between countries, but Antok was every inch a soldier.” 

Then she plugged the thumb drive into their tablet, explaining that these were all the messages they’d ever sent out. For security (but… right. Rebellion), they always waited until a message came in return before sending another, and Hunk watched himself grow from barely a toddler to probably about kindergarten age. His baby self laughed and cried, and showed off walking and climbing, and begged for Rava to come home from the war. Most of them were happy, and a few referred to other messages that Hunk didn’t remember, and Hunk was in tears by the end. Now that his memory had been jogged, he could remember sitting down with Mom in front of a camera and recording messages, but they kind of blurred together. 

Hunk sat in silence for a few minutes after the last one ended, uncurling his tail from his waist (it felt so right, so natural, and helped his motion sickness so much) and then holding the spiked tip in his hands. “Mama… Rava had a tail, didn’t she?” 

“Yes, and—“ Mom didn’t quite put it into words, but she gestured at his stomach. 

Hunk pulled up his shirt, and pulled the weird, loose skin away from himself. Inside was thick hair and… four more nipples. He— What the hell. Hunk wasn’t big into biology or anything, but he wasn’t dumb, either. It was a pouch, like a kangaroo’s. Hunk had a tail, and a pouch, and better than human senses. “Mom… what _am_ I?” 

“You’re my son, my beautiful miracle son,” Mom hugged him tight, “but you’re also part alien. There are some things I promised not to say until you’re older, but your Rava found your Tinā after the accident, beyond saving, but you were in her arms, and so you got adopted. And somehow alien medtech and alien milk made you part alien yourself. You were so sick as a baby in the womb, and there were going to need to be so many surgeries to make sure you got through everything okay, but after your Rava, even the abscesses on your spinal cord cleared up and the vertebrae grew in right. And if the price for a healthy son is you having a tail and a pouch, I’m more than happy to pay it. I know it’s been hard, growing up knowing you’re different, but you’re so special.” 

Hunk had an alien rebel third mom who apparently was a space kangaroo. It was a lot to take in. “But why… why hasn’t Rava come back?” 

Mom winced. “There’s an evil space Empire out there, and it’s getting closer to our solar system every year. Your Rava, Antok, went back out to fight them, and keep them away from us so you could grow up safe.” 

Wait. “Evil alien Empire?” 

“Let’s just say that it’s enough like Star Wars that Antok nearly ruined our TV the first time the Emperor used the lightning in Return of the Jedi.” 

Hunk ended up laughing with Mom. Suddenly a lot of things made sense, and it hurt, but Rava had left to protect him, protect Mom, protect Earth (and Rava wasn’t dead; couldn’t be). Hunk was maybe a little bit risk adverse (scared of his own shadow sometimes) but he could get it, and now he had a measuring post for being brave like his moms. 

All three of his moms. 

Oh god, if he was a part alien, what other surprises where there? Please don’t let there be tentacles. Please don’t let there be tentacles…

* * *

The decision to go into the Galaxy Garrison, on the early entry scholarship, and someday go to space with Lance was easy in hindsight. He was going to go to space and find his Rava. He was going to try not to make an embarrassment of himself with his motion sickness and anxiety.

He was going to room with Lance, and maybe hold up the Kerberos crew as a standard (it wasn’t hero worship, like a certain someone, okay) to reach, and be _ready_. 

And he wasn’t even going to let the in depth physical stop him. Mom’s long-time lawyer (and new wife, which was a little weird, but a good weird) had written up paperwork to medically explain his tail, and prohibit anyone who saw it from talking about it, and there was a special glue to hide Hunk’s pouch for the exam. 

The classes were a _challenge_ , and flight sims were terrifying, and there was a smell around the Garrison that always turned Hunk’s head. A couple months before the Kerberos mission launched, Hunk finally got a chance to put a face to the smell. It was Keith. Loner hotshot hothead pilot who got along with almost nobody (except the pilot for Kerberos, the famous Shirogane, rumors said), and Lance’s destined rival (but only according to Lance). 

Hunk had never been the greatest at reaching out to people who intimidated him, and boy did Keith intimidate him, and Lance’s weird obsession with beating Keith made it less likely, but he paid attention. 

Then the rumors started. Keith was a freak, Keith wasn’t even a boy (rude! _Rudest!_ ). Keith had agreed to go on a date with Anderson, who everybody knew was trouble (the rumors around him talked about broken hearts and lost virginities, and no girl was really safe with him). 

And Keith’s smell had changed. It just… made Hunk want to follow it, and maybe get in the face of people who looked at Keith wrong. (All six of his nipples hurt, and Hunk just wasn’t going to think about that. No way.)

One rumor turned out to be true, in the worst way. Hunk passed Anderson on the way to class one morning, noting a split lip and black eyes almost absently before the scent hit him. Anderson was angry, nursing wounded pride and vindictive smugness, but on him was the smell of Keith. Keith in pain, bloody, afraid. Hunk almost rounded on him and tackled him to the ground. Because his attention was on Anderson, Hunk realized what Shirogane was aiming for before it happened. Shirogane was furious, protective, and also smelled like Keith-in-pain, but also Keith-in-exhausted-comfort. When Shirogane punched out Anderson and definitely broke his nose, Hunk actually cheered for a minute before cutting himself off. 

News of Anderson getting expelled for inappropriate conduct was of course confidential, which meant it was being talked about by everybody by the end of classes. Hunk was gleeful, honestly, because Anderson was a jerk to everybody, and not just the girls and female instructors, but his chest (and inside his pouch) was more sore than ever. 

Lance made a face when Hunk pulled off his top to check in their room that night but in his own special Lance way, helpfully offered some kind of skin cream that might help with the tight sore feeling, and would leave his skin butter soft (Lance’s words) even if it didn’t. 

Neither of them were prepared for Hunk’s nipples to start _leaking_ when he tried to put the cream on (it helped, but _leaking nipples_ ). It looked like skim milk, smelled more like butter, and it was coming from his nipples. 

Hunk had panicked. Lance had somehow managed to panic _more_ , and Mom took him to the family doctor the next day. There were concerned looks and a couple tests and talk of hormones and levels and how it wasn’t as uncommon as people thought, and frankly, Hunk thought that panicking and refusing to even think about the pamphlets he’d been given was entirely justified. 

Then a week or so later, at about the same time Hunk noticed Keith back in the halls, smelling wary and tired but more like his usual self, the soreness all of a sudden cleared up and the leaking stopped. Just like that. Hunk was too busy with classes to feel more than relief. 

Mom had made an offhand comment about most of Rava’s species being able to nurse babies, so maybe Hunk’s body had been taking his nipples for a test drive because he’d be able to nurse his own kids someday, or adopt a stranger’s baby and nurse them, like Rava. 

He could deal with that. He could! (He was going to do his very best to avoid small babies for the next forever.)

* * *

Ending up _in_ space had been one hell of a trip. Hunk wished so desperately that he’d been able to tell Mom, maybe stop to get the promise box, but nope. Shirogane (Shiro) had come back with space prosthetics and a haunted scent, Keith had apparently been living out in the desert, and Lance was the _least_ respectful pilot to people with motion sickness (Hunk wished the whole time that he could let his tail come out). And Pidge was still a mystery, but they made a damn good team when Hunk wasn’t anxious or airsick. (Someday he’d ask Pidge if he wanted to talk about not necessarily being biologically what he presented as, but yeah. Nerves and the whole alien thing. Not happening yet.)

So, aliens were real, and space elves (space elves!) and fighting other aliens, and Hunk almost asked about what kind of aliens had tails and pouches, but war and fighting and giant combining robots and there really wasn’t time. It was super cool that his new armor accommodated his tail just like that (and his size, actually), and the space elves accepted his explanation about rare birth defects that ended up being kind of useful when fully expressed, even if the humans kind of didn’t. Being able to have his tail out helped so many things, including his motion sickness and his balance, and general confidence. 

Okay, so maybe not that, and having to go to a Galra occupied planet to get his Lion had not been fun. Hunk had almost gone right to hot-wiring the elevator, but a weird impulse made him put his hand on the screen and cool!

It was only some time later that Hunk learned about Galra tech only responding to Galra or Galra tech, but he wasn’t purple or anything, and he’d never seen a Galra with a tail, and _Keith_ had done it at least once too. The fact that Keith smelled different from the rest, and tended to get sick (sick _er_ ) on the same foods Hunk did, and Hunk knew he _himself_ was part alien raised questions, but not “am I Galra” questions.

But it was cool. Space was terrifying, the Galra were terrifying, but Hunk was fighting the same evil space Empire that his Rava was, and someday they’d meet. 

Then one of the Galra stopped dead when Hunk was rescuing Allura and asked, angry and betrayed. “Why are you siding with _them_?” 

Allura had smashed him into a wall before Hunk could even think about it, but the question gnawed at his brain. Right up until they met Ulaz, and Ulaz smelled kind of weirdly similar to Keith. 

Just a coincidence, right? _Right?_

* * *

“And… I think that’s pretty much it?” Hunk shrugged. “And like, I’m pretty sure I’m going to have a minor freak out about being part Galra at some point? But that’s okay, and now we know for sure that there _are_ rebel alliance Galra!” 

Allura marched out of the room, but Rava hugged Hunk. “I’m sorry I couldn’t be there to teach you about yourself, but I’m proud of you. Both of you. Vrulidok.” 

And that was fine by Hunk, and when Shiro suggested moving on to the bridge to discuss their alliance and strategy, Hunk went with the rest, not feeling at all bad about hovering near both Keith and Rava. Keith kept trying to edge away tense and almost pained, like he was waiting for the other shoe to drop or something, but Hunk knew better than to push too much.

Falling asleep was totally not part of the plan, but he’d had a big day! Totally justified.

* * *

And in hindsight, falling asleep meant that Hunk couldn’t protest getting sent after a giant planet eating monster for ridiculously rare minerals. He felt entitled to gripe a bit. “Does it seem fair to you? I mean, they send both of us on a mission to the belly of a literal beast, and we’re both part alien.” 

Keith almost literally growled, but Hunk thought it was a fond one. Definitely. (Maybe.) “We need to focus on the mission.” 

“But we found long lost brothers in each other. We can be literal and figurative bros now. Can I call you bro? Would you mind that?” Hunk was nervous, and nervous Hunk was a babbling Hunk. Keith smelled of annoyance, but weirdly comforted at the same time. “But Galra genetics, man, how weird, right? I mean, you’re _more_ Galra than me, I’m pretty sure, but you look more human. And I guess neither of us look particularly Galra, but I have a tail. How come you didn’t get a tail?” 

Keith sighed. “Can we please focus? We don’t have time to freak out over being Galra or how the others will all hate us now.” 

“The others don’t hate us. Lance hasn’t hated you in forever. I mean he’s still weirdly obsessed with the whole destined rivals thing, but he doesn’t hate you. And if he thinks differently because of the Galra thing I’ll give him my very best disappointed lecture. I don’t think Shiro is _capable_ of hating me, much less _you_ , so he just needs some adjustment time, and so does Pidge, for that matter. Coran… is Coran. And Allura—“ 

Zarkon and the Galra had betrayed her and her father, wiped out her planet and her entire species, took over the universe… “Okay, Allura might hate us a little bit. But she’ll come around. I mean she knows we’re not evil; she just needs to adjust.” 

Hunk hoped. Keith just groaned and reached over to turn on Coran’s video, which, of _course_ was corrupted at all the important bits. Keith, in typical Keith fashion didn’t seem to mind, and Hunk was low key anxious enough for both of them. 

And honestly, it was almost fun. _Terrifying_. But fun. He and Keith made a good team, Hunk thought. And mystery Galra was a worrying mystery, but they got all the scaultrite they needed. 

Keith even hugged him back all stiff and unsure when Hunk gave him the Garret family celebratory hug once they were safely back on board Yellow. “Good job, bro.” 

How Keith could _smell_ of an eyeroll, Hunk didn’t know, but there was a little smile tugging at his mouth. “Same to you… but I’m not calling you bro.” 

Huh. That reminded him. “So! If Shiro is some kind of family by choice for you—don’t argue, I can smell it—does that mean he’s family to me too now?” 

Keith groaned and thunked his helmet against the back of the seat. But he smelled happy, or as close as he tended to get.

* * *

A kind of frantic energy had seized everybody back at the Castle as they finalized plans and started putting things into motion. The genius scientist guy drove Hunk _crazy_ just by smell alone. Talk about needing a therapist.

The plan was kind of amazing, and the teludav and the gravity generator— Just, wow. (Scientist was still too neurotic to coexist with any other life form.) 

But battle was imminent, and the Blades’ spy hadn’t checked in and then _Keith_ went and volunteered on a suicide mission and nope. Not alone. 

Everybody stared when Hunk volunteered, but Hunk shrugged. “I just found out I have a brother. I’m not going to lose him. Besides some heavy firepower as backup will be good when things go wrong.” 

“If.”

“When. It’s always when. Trust me on this!” 

Keith rolled his eyes but he smelled happy again. So Hunk took a chance to pull him and Rava into a hug. “We’re all coming back, okay? We’re doing everything in our power to live through this and come back.” 

Keith grunted in affirmation, and after a long pause, actually hugging them both tighter for a minute, and Rava kissed the top of both of their heads. It wouldn’t be enough to save them from disaster, but it made Hunk feel a little bit better about blasting their way into Central Command, _again_. 

And getting in wasn’t hard (over ruling the objections to bringing along a third air mask was). Nor was getting to the right room. But the codes had been changed, because of course they were. 

Then there was an injured Galra, and a couple creepy dudes who suddenly made Hunk understand so very clearly what Mom had said about Rava overreacting to Star Wars (teleporters. why did it have to be teleporters?). 

With a moment of quiet to themselves the stranger took one look at Keith’s Marmora knife-turned-sword and then at Hunk’s tail and smiled. “And fellow Blades, I see.” 

Hunk was tempted to argue but time was ticking away, and turning rooms into bombs. How fun! (Not.)

Then Thace, because that’s what his name was, tried to insist on staying behind. Hunk summoned his Bayard and set it on his hip. “Absolutely not. I’ve got an idea.” 

It was crazy, reckless, and Hunk hadn’t had time to really _do_ the math, much less check it twice, but he was pretty sure he could collapse the hallway if he hit a few points with enough fire power. So he fired, and fired, and the room started overloading, but finally, with a very feminine scream, the hallway warped and collapsed. Hunk shoved the spare mask at Thace, gestured to Keith and they jumped. 

The explosion hit hard, and burned like hell (his tail!) but they were all alive when Red appeared out of nowhere for them. Yellow wasn’t far behind, and Hunk spared enough time for a shoulder squeeze before heading to his own lion. Plan success!

Hunk opened up his comm. “Okay, we kept our promise, Rava. Now it’s your turn.” 

Then the battle for the universe began in earnest.

* * *

Epilogue

It wasn’t a happy ending. Happy endings didn’t exist because nothing really ever ended. But they won, and there were casualties. Shiro missing, Rava and Thace in pods, fighting for their lives. Probably _not_ Zarkon, in spite of their best attempts.

Allura even came to him and Keith and apologized, saying that she’d wanted to before the battle, but hadn’t wanted to interrupt the family moment. She was sincere, if awkward, and something was troubling her a lot, but Hunk guessed that pushing would only make her withdraw. 

But Slav, neurotic as he was, had ideas when he’d heard about what Ulaz did, and gave them a 67% chance of finding either Shiro or Ulaz if they used the Lions and something so complicated that even Hunk and Pidge combined boggled at it. So there was hope. 

And there was Keith. Worried but trying not to show it. Exhausted from searching for Shiro. Leaning into Hunk’s hug, all hesitance, like he expected it to be taken away. He smelled of loneliness and longing, and bitter expectations. 

“It’s going to be okay,” Hunk said, “Don’t make me quote Disney at you.” 

“Hunk—“ 

Hunk cleared his throat. “Ohana means—“

Keith pulled away, eyes flashing and radiating hurt through his scent. “Life isn’t a Disney movie! Mom left! _Both of them_. Dad died! I had nobody until Shiro and then he got—“ 

Hunk got it, he did. Part of him was still hurting, that he’d had to spend so much time confused about himself, even if it was for good reasons. “There’s another line from that movie. ‘This is my family. It’s little, and broken, but still good.’” 

Keith just glared, hunched up on himself. Hunk sighed. “Look, I never even got to meet my Tinā, but I know she loved me. She didn’t want to leave me, like I’m sure your dad didn’t want to leave you. But you’re right; life isn’t a Disney movie. Car accidents and sickness and war and robotic Lions all take us away from the people we love, but as long as we don’t forget them, we can find our way back home. And you’ve got a family here; like it or not. And I don’t even mean the blood kind. We’re family, Keith. Voltron, and we’ll never leave you or Shiro, or anybody behind.” 

Keith snorted, but he didn’t resist when Hunk put an arm around him again. It was a start, not an ending. A whole new tale, and maybe there’d be aliens be telling it someday to their kids.


End file.
